Nene Kinokuni
}} Nene Kinokuni (紀ノ国 寧々 Kinokuni Nene) is a 91st Generation student of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy and the current 6th seat of the Elite Ten Council. Appearance Nene is an average looking girl with pink eyes and large circular glasses. She has shoulder length green hair that is held behind her ears and her bangs slightly frames her face. She also has two short and thin pigtails, the right side ending just on her shoulders while her left side ends just above her neckline. She wears a standard Tōtsuki uniform during school. Personality Nene is extremely taciturn, speaking very bluntly if she even speaks at all. Her personality directly conflicts with Terunori Kuga, who is much more loud and brash, often leading to her to vocally tell him to die or ridiculing his height.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 118, page 11 Shokugeki no Soma chapter 119, page 13 Like most of the other Elite Ten members, Nene does not see any of the first year students as a threat due to the confidence her superior abilities that got her the seat. Hence, she does not accept challenges from non-seated Elite Ten members.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 118, page 15 She is a stickler for protocol and managed to scold Rindō Kobayashi into wearing her Central badge despite the latter's initial lazy attitude about it.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 151, page 17 History Nene is the daughter of the prestigious Kinokuni family and was trained from an early age in various Japanese customs from dance, caligraphy, judo, and even using a naginata. Her early childhood saw very little free time outside of school. Yet, she did not mind this as she was fully engrossed on perfecting her skills in Japanese traditions. Overtime, Nene developed a particular passion in creating Soba noodles, eventually becoming her forte. The Kinokuni family has had a strong bond with the Isshiki family, another prestigious family in Japan. As per the tradition of the Isshiki family, their heir is sent to another family to hone their skills. The current heir, Satoshi Isshiki, was sent to the Kinokuni family where he lived with Nene and her family. Though she was happy to interact with someone her age at the suggestion of her father, she quickly became frustrated when she saw Satoshi effortlessly learn nearly all skills taught to her in a short period of time. Due to an unknown event in their past, Nene developed a resentment towards Satoshi that persisted into the present. ]] Nene enrolled into Tōtsuki Culinary Academy as part of the 91st Generation and would later attain the 6th seat of the Elite Ten Council by her second year. As a second year student, Nene completed the Tōtsuki Friendship and Rapport Training Camp and Stagiaire events in her first year. She expressed surprise at Terunori requesting a Shokugeki with the Elite Ten members at the Autumn Leaf Viewing, signifying that she was a participant in the Main Tournament in the Tōtsuki Autumn Election the previous year.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 131, page 13 Before her debut, she alongside other members of the Elite Ten gathered and selected the participants of the 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 37, page 19Shokugeki no Soma chapter 40, pages 1-3 Plot Moon Banquet Festival Main article: Moon Banquet Festival Arc Shortly after the conclusion of the 92nd Tōtsuki Generation's Stagiaire event, Nene, along with several members of the Elite Ten was in the stands, watching over Sōma Yukihira after he provoked everyone in the audience.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 117, pages 14-15 & 18 She and the other Elite Ten members attended the Autumn Leaf Viewing so the first year students who participated in the 43rd Annual Autumn Election Main Tournament could formally meet them. When Terunori Kuga suggested abolishing this event, Nene refuted the idea, as the director had asked them to participate. This caused some commotion, but they were eventually interrupted by Sōma, who wanted to have a Shokugeki against them for their seat. Nene immediately refused, as Terunori mentioned that the second years are too busy trying to defeat the people above them.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 118, pages 8-16 When Eishi Tsukasa began to panic, Nene urged him to calm down.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 119, page 4 Nene eventually left along with the rest of the Elite Ten, after Terunori explained the true power of an Elite Ten's seat.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 119, pages 7-14 This meeting only caused the first years' fighting spirits to be kindled.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 119, pages 13-14 Nene then participated in the Moon Banquet Festival, setting up a stand in the Uptown Area. She ranked fourth on the first day of the festival, behind several other Elite Ten members.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 126, page 9 Central Main article: Central Arc After the conclusion of the Festival, Tōtsuki received a shift in leadership as Senzaemon Nakiri was replaced by Azami Nakiri as the new headmaster of the academy. Nene and five of the other Elite Ten Council members voted in favor for the move.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 134, page 15 For voting in his favor, Nene joined Central as one of its commanding officers. Promotion Exams Main article: Promotion Exams Due to the return of Joichrio Saiba who directly confronted Azami to reinstate Senzaemon as headmaster of Tōtsuki, a Régiment de Cuisine battle was established. The battle consisted of the rebel 92nd Generation students and the removed Elite Ten Council members who opposed Azami against the current Elite Ten Council members. During the first battle, Nene faced off against Sōma. Much to her luck, the theme of their battle, drawn at random by Sōma, turned out to be soba, her forte. Nene displayed her soba making prowess, stunning the crowd. Much to her shock, Sōma was making an honest effort to oppose her, even complimenting his decision to face her using a different method than the one she was using. As her battle against Sōma progressed, Satoshi was similarly facing off at the same time against Julio Shiratsu. Nene confronted Satoshi, stating that she expected him to win his duel so they could have a proper duel for the best 91st Generation student. Satoshi responded that she would not have her chance yet as he believed that Sōma would win the battle. Nene completed her dish first, a Nine to One Buckwheat Soba Garnished with Shrimp Stir-Fry in Sakura Style. The judges were easily engrossed by the dish, so much so that its contents were emptied before they could notice. Nene was prepared and gave them a second serving, only for the judges to be stunned once more for the seemingly vanishing soba. Nene's time invested in learning the Kinokuni traditions produced a soba unlike any that had been tasted by the judges. With the theme in her favor and the overwhelming amount of praise from the judges, Nene was confident that she would claim victory and make Satoshi take back his words. However, much to her utter disbelief, Sōma's dish managed to leave a great impression on the judges. Upon analyzing Sōma's soba, he used third flour, which utilizes the entire soba seed rather than just the endosperm like in her first flour soba base. Despite the seemingly common construction, Sōma's dish managed to impress the judges, but Nene was still confident in her win. One of the judges, Anne, told Nene to sample her soba noodles. Confused, Nene ate some of her noodles and found that it was not nearly as potent as usual. Upon tasting Sōma's soba, his was clearly more potent. Despite adhering to her family's traditions, Nene failed to consider her environment. According to Alice Nakiri, the ambient temperature of the arena, which was cold and humid, proved to be a very cruel environment for Soba which relies on aroma. Nene could not accept that Sōma had predicted it and merely was able to create it out of sheer luck. Satoshi admonished Nene for belittling Sōma, explaining that Sōma may not have known the direct reason, but he had a feeling. Sōma confirmed this, stating that when he was choosing his Soba type, the usual aroma was not present, thus giving him the means to craft a method to recover that lost aroma. Satoshi told her that her overconfidence in the Kinokuni tradition led to he downfall as she believed that presenting the ultimate Kinokuni soba dish would assure her victory, without trying to address what would satisfy the judges. Nene asked Sōma how he could come up with such an idea in such a short amount of time, especially in a critical time such as a Shokugeki. Sōma stated that his time in Restaurant Yukihira is always life and death, that he is always cooking with his customers in mind. Nene gave Sōma's dish a true taste and accepted defeat as Sōma was declared the winner of their match, thus eliminating Nene from the Elite Ten's team. Cooking Style As the 6th seat of the Elite Ten, Nene is among the best 2nd year students of the academy. However, Satoshi has stated that Nene's weakness as a chef is due to her strict adherence to her traditions without considering improvements outside her family teaching.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 214 *'Soba' - While she is well rounded in almost all forms of traditional Japanese cuisine, Nene has a particular affinity with creating Soba. **'Hand-Made Soba' - The skill of creating Soba takes a wide range of skill, especially by hand. If done improperly, the results can be disastrous to the noodle's texture and taste. Yet, Nene has mastered the art of hand-made Soba to the point that she makes no excessive movements when creating it. Dishes Original Dishes *'Nine to One Buckwheat Soba Garnished with Shrimp Stir-Fry in Sakura Style-' An elegant dish that utilizes Nene's rich experience in cooking Edo-style Soba. Eating the noodles in conjunction with the shrimp would make you feel that you've been transported into a future where the noodles were already finished. Cooking Duel Records Rebels Vs Central Régiment de Cuisine Clubs *'Elite Ten Council' - Nene is the current 6th seat of the Elite Ten Council * Central Trivia *''Nene'' (寧々) is written as a repetition of the kanji for "tranquility" (寧 Ne), as indicated by the iteration mark (々). Kinokuni (紀ノ国) contains the kanji for "chronicle" (紀 Ki) and "country" (国 Kuni). References Navigation es:Nene Kinokuni zh:紀之國寧寧 Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Students Category:Tōtsuki Culinary Academy Students Category:Elite Ten Council Category:91st Generation Students Category:Tōtsuki Autumn Election Participants Category:Central Category:Shokugeki Participants